Storm curtains are used to protect buildings during violent storms such as hurricanes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,639 B1 (Apparatus And Method For Windlocking A Building Opening), U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,039 B1 (Apparatus And Method For Windlocking A Building Opening), U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,305 B1 (Method And Apparatus For Driving And Storing A Covering) U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,593 B1 (Access Panel For Operating An In Wall Curtain System And Method Of Using Same), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,250 B2 (Apparatus And Method For Windlocking A Building Opening) assigned to Wayne-Dalton Corp. disclose, among other things, building construction industry requirements for hurricane-prone areas such as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico States. The disclosures of the aforementioned patents are incorporated herein by reference hereto. Further the aforementioned patents describe wind conditions during hurricanes and other violent storms.
When a building envelope is breached devastating pressure differentials cause large amounts of damage. Kinetic energy due to the velocity of the fluid (wind) is proportional to the square of the velocity. Energy from the wind, therefore, pressurizes the interior of a home or other structure which in combination with the profile of the roof makes the roof, in effect, act like an airplane wing causing it to blow off the remaining structure.
During a storm, wind applied to a building or a building opening such as a door or a window is not constant. Wind varies and fluctuates in magnitude (force) and direction with respect to time during, before and after a storm. While it is desirable to deploy protective devices before violent winds attack a building such deployment does not always occur. Sometimes deployment of the protective devices occurs during conditions which are quite windy.
The present invention provides a full perimeter seal by virtue of the curtain engaging the storm curtain canister, the side guides and the sill.
Therefore, there is a need to have a storm curtain frame which is capable of being deployed in stormy conditions while the wind is blowing, fluctuating and varying. There is also a need for a storm curtain which provides strength and rigidity during a storm.
Therefore, there is a need to have a storm curtain which has a bottom bar affixed to the curtain which stablizes the curtain during deployment, for example, raising and lowering the curtain as well as full deployment of the curtain in the completely lowered position.
The invention described and claimed hereinbelow solves the aforementioned problems and others.